Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was brought to the Broward County jail and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder Thursday morning. (Feb. 15)
AP

This photo provided by the Broward County (Fla.) Jail shows Nikolas Cruz. Authorities say Cruz, a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, killing more than a dozen people and injuring several.(Photo: Broward County (Fla.) Jail via AP)

PARKLAND, Fla. – The suspect in a deadly rampage at a Florida high school is a troubled teenager who posted disturbing material on social media before the shooting spree that killed 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others, according to a law enforcement official and former schoolmates.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said the 19-year-old suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for “disciplinary reasons.”

“I don’t know the specifics,” the sheriff said.

However, Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior, said Cruz was expelled last school year after a fight with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. She said Cruz had been abusive to his girlfriend.

School officials said Cruz was attending another school in Broward County after his expulsion.

Cruz’s mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family members said, according to the Sun Sentinel. Cruz and her husband, who died of a heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas and his biological brother, Zachary, after the couple moved from Long Island in New York to Broward County.

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A police officer helps direct traffic as Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students begin arriving for their first day of school since the shooting on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
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Police officers line up outside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to welcome the students back to on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. This is the official first day of school since the shooting on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Fla.
ANDREA MELENDEZ/ USA TODAY NETWORK

Returning faculty and administration at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla., are taken on a walk around the fenced-off freshman building where the Feb. 16, shooting took place, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Today marked the first day back for teachers at the school.
JOE CAVARETTA, AP

A small group of parents and neighbors welcome returning faculty and administrators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla., Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Today marked the first day back for teachers at the school.
JOE CAVARETTA, AP

Mourners leave the funeral of Peter Wang, 15, who was a JROTC cadet, at Kraeer Funeral home on Feb. 20, 2018 in Coral Springs, Florida. Wang was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School along with 16 other people.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Alex Wang holds a picture of his brother, Peter Wang, a victim in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after his brother's funeral on Feb. 20, 2018, at Kraeer Funeral Home in Coral Springs, Fla.
Taimy Alvarez, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, via AP

Tyra Hemans, 19, who survived the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, waits to board a bus in Parkland, Fla., Feb. 20, 2018. The students plan to hold a rally Wednesday in hopes that it will put pressure on the state's Republican-controlled Legislature to consider a sweeping package of gun-control laws, something some GOP lawmakers said Monday they would consider.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Students who survived the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School,along with survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting, cheer before the students board a bus in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 20, 2018, to rally outside the state capitol and talk to legislators about gun control reform.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Sheryl Acquarola, a 16-year-old junior from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is overcome with emotion in the east gallery of the House of Representatives after the representatives voted not to hear a bill banning assault rifles and large capacity magazines. Acquarola was one of the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that left 17 dead, who were in Tallahassee on Feb. 20, 2018 to meet with Florida lawmakers.
Mark Wallheiser, AP

Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and other students from Broward County, Fla. high schools listen to Sen. Bobby Powell in his office at the Florida Capital in Tallahassee, Fla., Feb 20, 2018.
Mark Wallheiser, AP

Rep. Bobby DuBose thanks the survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and other students from Broward County, Fla. high schools for coming to see him at the Florida Capital in Tallahassee, Fla., Feb 20, 2018.
Mark Wallheiser, AP

People visit a makeshift memorial in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 19, 2018 in Parkland, Fla. Police arrested and charged 19 year old former student Nikolas Cruz for the February 14 shooting that killed 17 people.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Ashley Boul, right, and Joel Robinson, who is an alumni of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, visit a makeshift memorial in front of the school on Feb. 19, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Max Bromberg hugs his brother Samuel Bromberg, both of whom graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as they visit a makeshift memorial in front of the school on Feb. 19, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Cindy Sotelo, right, cries with her daughter, Jessica Malone, an alumna of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as they visit a makeshift memorial in front of the school on Feb. 19, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Sara Smith, left, and her daughter Karina Smith visit a makeshift memorial on Feb. 19, 2018 outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and faculty were killed in a mass shooting on Wednesday, in Parkland, Fla.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Camila Valladares, 9, and brother Miguel Piacquadio, 25, light a candle at a memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018, in response to a shooting at the high school Wednesday that took 17 lives.
Dorothy Edwards, Naples Daily News, via USA TODAY NETWORK

People visit a makeshift memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 18, 2108, where 17 students and faculty were killed in Wednesday's mass shooting in Parkland, Fla.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Pall bearers carry the casket of Scott Beigel after his funeral in Boca Raton, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018. Beigel, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, was killed along with 16 others in a mass shooting at the school on Wednesday. Nikolas Cruz, a former student, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Bryan and Amber Gruzenksy place flowers on crosses with their son Joshua, 14, outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting on Wednesday.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Hadley Sorensen, 16, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is comforted by her mother Stacy Sorensen at a makeshift memorial outside the school in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Isabella Vanderlaat, 15, and Gabriella Benzeken 15, both students of Scott Beigel, the 35-year-old geography teacher who was killed during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings, attend the funeral service at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018.
Charles Trainor Jr, Miami Herald, via AP

Emma Gonzalez, 18, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, cries as she hugs a supporter of the #NeverAgain movement at North Community Park on Feb. 18, 2018. Gonzalez became a viral sensation after videos of her impassioned speech at an anti-gun rally in Fort Lauderdale flooded social media.
Nicole Raucheisen, Naples Daily News, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Flowers are placed near unretrieved bicycles outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting. Authorities opened the streets around the school, which had been closed since the shootings. Nikolas Cruz, a former student, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Mourners arrive at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs at Heron Bay in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2018, for the funeral service of Alex Schachter, 14, who was one of the 17 victims of the Parkland mass shooting.
Matias J. Ocner, Miami Herald, via AP

Mimi Milton receives a hug after a church service dedicated to the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, at the First Church of Coral Springs, on Feb. 18, 2018, in Coral Springs, Fla.
Mark Wilson, Getty Images

Donna Biederman, bottom right, gets emotional while listening to speeches during a gun control rally in front of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Feb. 17, 2018. Students, community members, elected officials and gun control advocates gathered together to call for common sense gun laws and firearm safety legislation in the wake of the school shooting that left 17 people dead and 15 others injured this past Wednesday in Parkland, Fla.
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez reacts during her speech at a rally for gun control at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on February 17, 2018.
A student survivor of the Parkland school shooting called out President Donald Trump on Saturday over his ties to the powerful National Rifle Association, in a poignant address to an anti-gun rally in Florida. "To every politician taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!" said Emma Gonzalez, assailing Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby -- and prompting the crowd to chant in turn: 'Shame on you!'
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Alessandra Mondolfi wears statement jewelry, which she designed and created herself, during a gun control rally in front of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Feb. 17, 2018.
Nicole Raucheisen, Naples Daily News via USA TODAY NETWORK

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Cameron Kasky speaks at a rally for gun control at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on February 17, 2018.
RHONA WISE, AFP/Getty Images

The soccer teammates of Alyssa Alhadeff listen to the live stream of her mother as she speaks about her daughter and gun violence. Alyssa Alhadeff, 15, was one of the 17 victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,Fla. The practice at Pines Trail Park offers an outlet for the team, said Laurie Thomas, coach of the Parkland Soccer Club.
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Sad scenes of remembrances are still playing out at the Parkland amphitheater on Feb. 17, 2018. Crosses have been set up to honor those killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Andrew West, The News-Press via USA TODAY Network

Thilaka Sritharan (L) whose daughter was in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when 17 people were killed is hugged by Lauren Duck during a protest against guns on Feb. 17, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Lisa McCrary-Tokes, a resident of Parkland says a prayer at each of the crosses that were erected at the Parkland, Fl, Amphitheatre on Friday. McCrary-Tokes lost a daughter to gun violence in Ohio last year and another daughter graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. "You can't feel safe anywhere in this country," she said.
ANDREW WEST, The News-Press via USA TODAY Network

South Broward High School senior Sophia Villiers-Furze, center, protests with her classmates in front of their school on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 in response to a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
DOROTHY EDWARDS, Naples Daily News via USA TODAY Network

A candlelight vigil draws thousands to the Pine Trails Park amphitheater to mourn a day after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Mandatory
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Zachary Valdes, 13, attends a candlelight vigil with his family at the Pine Trails Park amphitheater to mourn a day after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Valdes was at neighboring Westglades Middle School when the two campuses went on lockdown.
XAVIER MASCARENAS, TCPalm via USA TODAY NETWORK

A candlelight vigil draws thousands to the Pine Trails Park amphitheater to mourn a day after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
XAVIER MASCARENAS, TCPalm via USA TODAY NETWORK

Brayden Meddaugh, 7, and his mother, Stefanie Mion, both of Deerfield Beach, pay their respects at a small makeshift memorial under the Sawgrass Expressway across from the entrance to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
XAVIER MASCARENAS, Treasure Coast News via USA TODAY NETWORK

Freshman Nyallah Penn cries during a prayer circle after a vigil at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 15, 2018. The vigil was held after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday in Parkland, Fla., that took 17 lives.
Dorothy Edwards, Naples Daily News, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Kevin Siegelbaum, a special education teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, leans in to pray on Feb. 15, 2018, in Parkland, Fla., during a community vigil at Pine Trails Park for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Brynn Anderson, AP

Marla Eveillard, 14, cries as she hugs friends before the start of a vigil at the Parkland Baptist Church, for the victims of Wednesday's shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 15, 2018.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Austin Burden, 17, cries on the shoulder of a friend after a vigil at the Parkland Baptist Church, for the victims of the Wednesday shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla.
Gerald Herbert, AP

Milan Hamm, right, 17, joins hundreds of community members at a prayer vigil in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 5, 2018. Members of the community gathered for a vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
GIORGIO VIERA, EPA-EFE

Friends embrace in tears at the Parkridge Church in Coral Springs before the start of a community prayer vigil for Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victims, Feb. 15, 2018.
ERIC HASERT, USA TODAY NETWORK

Emmy Halulko, 13, (left) and her sister Evie, 5, both of Coral Springs stopped to pet Jacob, a Lutheran Church Charities comfort dog while at the Parkridge Church in Coral Springs for a community prayer vigil for all the shooting victims at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. "Awful" Emmy said about the shooting before breaking down in tears, acknowledging she knew several people at the school, Feb. 15, 2018
Eric Hasert, USA TODAY NETWORK

Kristi Gilroy hugs a young woman at a police check point near the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed by a gunman yesterday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES

Sheree Spaulding stands with her 15-year-old son, Justin who is a 9th grader at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed by a gunman yesterday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Parkland, Fla. Police arrested the suspect after a short manhunt, and have identified him as 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz.
MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES

Sheree Spaulding walks with her 15-year-old son, Justin Spauling, who is a 9th grader at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed by a gunman yesterday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES

Police control a road near the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed by a gunman yesterday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Parkland, Fla. Police arrested the suspect after a short manhunt, and have identified him as 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz.
MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES

Kristi Gilroy hugs a young woman as a police officer tries to clear a closed road at a police checkpoint near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed by a gunman Feb. 15, 2018, in Parkland, Fla. Police arrested the suspect after a short manhunt and have identified him as 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz.
MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES

Max Charles, second from right, 14, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., speaks to members of the media after being picked up by family members at a nearby hotel, in Coral Springs, Fla. A former student opened fire at the Florida high school Wednesday, killing more than a dozen people and sending scores of students fleeing into the streets in the nation's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Wilfredo Lee, AP

People wait outside the main entrance of Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. due to the hospital being on lockdown after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
Dorothy Edwards, Naples Daily News via USA Today

Sheree Spaulding hugs her son, Justin, 15, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, Fla., as she speaks to members of the media after picking up her son at a nearby hotel, Wednesday, in Coral Springs, Fla.
Wilfredo Lee, AP

Jorge Zapata,16, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hugss his mother, Lavinia Zapata, after a mass shooting earlier in the day at the school. “I was just really incredibly, indescribably happy to see him, because you never know,” Lavinia said.
XAVIER MASCARENAS, Treasure Coast Newspapers via USA TODAY NETWORK

Dalila Ladero, 16, of Coral Springs, Fla. stands near friends after being reunited with her mother at University Drive and Holmberg Road in Parkland. "When all that happened, I wasn't in my class, I just started following people...I was just seeing everyone screaming and crying and I didn't know what was happening," she said. "I was calm, I just started praying."
XAVIER MASCARENAS, Treasure Coast Newspapers via USA Today Network

Trauma surgeon Dr. Igor Nichiporenko (C) and director for emergency medicine Dr. Evan Boyar (R) address the media outside the Broward Health Emergency facility where victims were taken following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a city about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Miami, Wednesday.
MICHELE EVE SANDBERG, AFP/Getty Images

The boys were left in the care of a family friend after their mother died, family member Barbara Kumbatovich, of Long Island, said.

Unhappy there, Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend’s family in northwest Broward. The family agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving. According to the family’s lawyer, who did not identify them, they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15 but made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however.

Jim Lewis said the family is devastated and didn’t see this coming. They are cooperating with authorities, he said.

Broward County Mayor Beam Furr said during an interview with CNN that the shooter was getting treatment at a mental health clinic for a while, but that he hadn’t been back to the clinic for more than a year.

“It wasn’t like there wasn’t concern for him,” Furr said.

“We try to keep our eyes out on those kids who aren’t connected … Most teachers try to steer them toward some kind of connections. … In this case, we didn’t find a way to connect with this kid,” Furr said.

Israel said investigators were dissecting the suspect’s social media posts.

“And some of the things that have come to mind are very, very disturbing,” he added without elaborating.

Daniel Huerfano, a student who fled Wednesday’s attack, said he recognized Cruz from an Instagram photo in which Cruz posed with a gun in front of his face. Huerfano recalled Cruz as a shy student and remembered seeing him walking around with his lunch bag.

“He was that weird kid that you see … like a loner,” he added.

Dakota Mutchler, a 17-year-old junior, said he used to be close friends with Cruz but hadn’t seen him in more than a year following his expulsion from school.

“He started progressively getting a little more weird,” Mutchler said.

Mutchler recalled Cruz posting on Instagram about killing animals and said he had talked about doing target practice in his backyard with a pellet gun.

“He started going after one of my friends, threatening her, and I cut him off from there,” Mutchler said.

“I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him,” Mutchler said.

Broward County School District Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he did not know of any threats posed by Cruz to the school.

“Typically you see in these situations that there potentially could have been signs out there,” Runcie said. “I would be speculating at this point if there were, but we didn’t have any warnings. There weren’t any phone calls or threats that we know of that were made.”

However, a teacher told The Miami Herald that Cruz may have been identified as a potential threat to other students. Jim Gard, a math teacher who said Cruz had been in his class last year, said he believes the school had sent out an email warning teachers that Cruz shouldn’t be allowed on campus with a backpack.

“There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus,” Gard said.